


His Many Faces

by neonsunrise (pointedragon)



Series: Feathers and Leathers (Destiel Oneshots) [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel possessing original character, Diners, M/M, Sam Ships It, Sam only eats salad, Scientific Method, canonverse, happy endings, oneshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23546797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pointedragon/pseuds/neonsunrise
Summary: Sam's got a plan to figure out Dean's attraction to Castiel, once and for all.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Feathers and Leathers (Destiel Oneshots) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695490
Kudos: 31





	His Many Faces

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my corner of the Supernatural fandom! Thanks for stopping by.
> 
> All writing is my own. Beta'd by Nirmal and Julie - y'all know how appreciated you are.
> 
> Originally posted to Wattpad under https://www.wattpad.com/user/neonsunrise

Sam's sitting at his laptop one morning, sipping coffee and watching Dean and Cas eyefuck over the top of his screen, when inspiration hits.

So Dean and Cas clearly have their little unspoken-romance thing going on, Sam's watched it unfold for _years_. But, when most people are attracted to each other, physical form plays a big role alongside personality. Cas, though, doesn't look anything like Jimmy Novak. All six-wings plus however-many-eyes size-of-the-Chrysler-building of him is crammed into Jimmy's meatsuit. Sam's curious how much of Dean's attraction is to the Novak crust, and how much is to actual, angel-stuff Cas.

He narrows his eyes conspiratorially as Dean laughs at something Cas had said.

_Commence experiment. Hypothesis: Dean's attracted to the angel bits and not Jimmy's bits._

Sam nods to himself and takes another sip of coffee.

*

As soon as he can, he gets Cas by himself.

"I don't understand why you wanted to – " Cas starts, but Sam cuts him off.

"How easy is it for you to find human vessels?"

Cas's brows furrow. "I don't see how this is – "

"Just answer the question." Sam gives a winning grin. "Please? Humor me."

Cas eyes him suspiciously for a second but can't seem to find any harm in answering. "Oh, all right. It's not exceedingly difficult. Given that I am not an archangel, there are more vessels I can use than either Michael or Lucifer, as an example. It's likely there are a few such individuals in every city across the country. We angels can see them."

"Like, see, see, like a third-eye other-dimension kind of thing," Sam nods, rambling. "How easy would it be for you to hop into one of them and then, say, a day later, hop back into our friend Jimmy?"

Cas's frown deepens. "Why are you asking, Sam?"

"It's...for an experiment." Sam keeps up the grin. "Please?"

Cas sighs his _why do I put up with these humans_ sigh. "I took great care in choosing this vessel. He is a devout man and I wanted him to know what he was dealing with before I joined him."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, but let's just say you were to grab another human for a really short amount of time. Could you do it?" Sam presses.

"I'd need consent," Cas muses. "That is usually not easy to obtain on short notice."

"Could you, like...get it though? Hypothetically, of course?"

"Yes, I – I suppose I could be convincing in a pinch," Cas mutters, almost to himself. His words take a second to process in his mind, then he turns a narrowed gaze on Sam. "For what purpose do you need this information, Sam? It's unlike you to take a specific interest in angelic vessels."

Sam fills him in on the experiment: to test Dean and Cas's connection by introducing Cas to Dean in a different vessel. When Sam suggests the two of them have a connection, Cas stutters in protest, but Sam swears his cheeks blush just a little. It's tough getting Cas to agree to the experiment, but not even an angel of the Lord can deny Sam's puppy dog eyes forever.

_Independent variable secured. Ready to proceed to experiment._

*

"You guard the table, I'm gonna hit the toilet," Dean tells Sam, right as they're seated in a small roadside diner. Almost immediately after he leaves, a thin, twenty-something boy with russet hair and wide brown eyes and freckles rushes up to the table.

"Sam, I feel most uncomfortable in this body," the boy hisses to Sam in a pleasant tenor-range voice.

"Just play it cool, Cas," Sam chuckles. He has to admit, it's strange seeing the badass angel fronting as a young minimum-wage staffer. Cas looks naked without a trench coat, let alone without Jimmy Novak's commanding frame and piercing blue eyes. This boy was the best choice from the options Castiel found, however; old enough to properly consent to angel possession, conveniently a food service worker, and male. Sam wanted Cas to pick another dude because, aside from with Cas, he's never seen Dean bat so ferociously for the other team. If it was a girl, Dean might hit on her anyway, and that'd fuck up the results.

"I don't know if I can do that, _Sam,"_ Cas-the-waiter growls.

"Try changing the way you talk first," Sam suggests pleasantly, making eye contact with Dean over Cas's shoulder as the older Winchester exits the bathroom. If Cas can manage that, then there'll be exactly no reason for Dean to suspect it's his angel buddy. It's not like they can see souls, like angels can.

When Dean sits down, waiter-Cas puts on a slightly-forced smile and pulls out his notepad with a stiff movement. "I'm – " He clears his throat. "I'm Derek, I'll be your server today. Anything to drink?"

Sam tries not to grin too proudly as he pretends to examine a menu. "Just water for me, thanks."

Dean gives his façade-smile to waiter-Cas before he opens his mouth to speak. It could be Sam's imagination, but he swears he sees confusion flit across Dean's expression. Quick as a flash, though, it's gone. "I'll have a soda. And hey, I think we're ready to order, right Sam?"

Sam shrugs, watching the interaction closely. Waiter-Cas is fidgeting minutely and watching Dean with exactly his normal level of scrutiny – which is to say, like Dean's the most interesting man on the planet. If Dean notices, he doesn't let on.

"So, I'll have the double deluxe burger. Sammy'll probably have some rabbit food." Dean smirks across the table as he hands his menu off to Cas-the-waiter.

"The house salad, thanks," Sam says, hoping his smile is encouraging as he passes the menu over. Waiter-Cas, tearing his gaze from Dean, smiles tightly and pockets the notepad – without taking a single note – and rushes off.

"Odd fellow, isn't he?" Dean says, watching him go. His gaze seems to linger for a moment longer than normal.

"Oh, definitely," Sam agrees, not taking his scrutiny off his brother.

They chat idly while they wait. Cas doesn't say a word when he sets down their drinks. Sam thanks him, keeping an eye on Dean's expression. A note of confusion surfaces in Dean's green eyes as he watches waiter-Cas walk away. Sam's smirk grows.

A bit later, after more brotherly bonding, waiter-Cas returns with their food. He puts the burger in front of Dean first, almost like it's second nature – which, it probably is. After Sam has his salad, Cas tells them to enjoy their meals.

Meanwhile, Dean's confusion has evolved into full-blown befuddlement. He watches waiter-Cas leave, shaking his head to himself. "Sam, do we know him? He just seems really familiar for some reason. Almost like I've – " Dean cuts himself off, and Sam swears his cheeks go a little red.

Sam plays his part, shrugging. "I don't think we know him." He shoves a bite of salad into his mouth.

"Yeah, I guess not," Dean mutters, distractedly picking up his burger as his eyes scan the diner. As Cas paces past again, his vessel's auburn hair bouncing on his head, Dean puts his burger down with resolve. "No. I know him. I think. You _sure_ we don't know him?" He fixes Sam with a stare.

"I dunno," Sam says around a mouthful of leaves.

Dean's distracted enough that he hasn't even taken a bite of his burger, and that's saying something. Sam makes an internal note about that.

"I don't know what it is," Dean continues. "I feel like we've met before. If he was a chick, I'd probably say we'd hooked up at some point, but he ain't..."

Sam stifles a snort of laughter and hides his face with his drink. Dean knows him too well, though, and turns a defensive glare on his brother. "What's so funny, Sammy?"

Sam shakes his head, taking his time chewing his food as he smirks. "Oh, nothing. Just think it's funny that you're getting all blushy over a guy. Not that that's unusual lately."

Dean's cheeks grow redder. He opens his mouth to object but can't seem to find words to the contrary that aren't a lie. Instead, he gets distracted: his gaze darts to the side to catch a glimpse of waiter-Cas over Sam's shoulder. Dean's expression is carefully schooled into nonchalance, but the fact that Dean's trying to control it tells Sam enough. Not to mention Dean's burger is still resting on his plate, loosely held and forgotten.

"You gonna eat?" Sam asks, unable to stop the triumphant smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Dean snaps out of it. He takes a massive bite of his burger and groans, speaking through a mouthful: "this is _good!"_

Cas-the-waiter pops up out of seemingly nowhere, cheeks pink. Sam can tell it's a conscious effort for Cas to look away from Dean and towards Sam. "Is the food satisfactory?" he asks in Derek's high voice, and even if it's a little too close to Cas's normal level of wordiness, Sam thinks it'll fly under the radar regardless.

"These are awesome, thank you," Dean grins as he chews. Waiter-Cas's gaze flicks to Dean's mouth with interest, as he's done thousands of times before. Sam rolls his eyes – the last thing he needs is his independent variable breaking character – so he kicks Cas under the table. The angel-in-disguise startles and darts off with a nod.

"He's cute," Dean says offhandedly, watching as waiter-Cas nearly collides with another waiter in his hasty exit. He says it like a private thought that wasn't supposed to be voiced aloud. So naturally Sam calls him out on it, raising his eyebrows and leveling his no-bullshit- _Dean_ glare. "What?" Dean plays innocent.

"You just called our waiter cute," Sam pries.

Dean seems to find his burger fascinating all of the sudden. "No I didn't. He's a kid! Even if I did think he's cute – which I don't – he's like nineteen or something, I couldn't – " Dean breaks off and returns Sam's glare, but the effect is somewhat broken by the flush on his cheeks. He seems to have realized that his argument should've been that _their waiter is not a girl_ , because Dean's "I'm straight" front is just about the only thing keeping Sam from all-out forcing his brother and Cas together.

Sam raises his eyebrows higher, taking a triumphant bite of salad. He's got Dean right where he wants him.

"Fine, he's a little cute," Dean snaps. "But it ain't the acne. There's something else there..." he trails off, eyes seeking out waiter-Cas in the diner.

"Uhuh," Sam nods, enjoying Dean's struggle immensely. God, there's nothing like forcing his brother to confront his feelings without Dean being any the wiser. When he looks up from his salad with a self-satisfied smirk, it's to meet Dean's intensely-puzzled gaze.

"Sammy, am I going insane?" Dean's brows are furrowed. He's still blushing. As Cas-the-waiter walks past, Dean's eyes track his movement. The confusion in his expression is slowly turning to the sheer adoration reserved only for when he looks at Cas.

Well, Sam's going to go ahead and call the experiment there. Dean's as easy to read as a book, and his story is more Cas-centric than ever. The angel bits have won out.

_Experiment complete. Test results: positive._


End file.
